La Compagnie has been talking about its new product for some time, without much facts on the bone.
That changed today, with the announcement from Airbus, Viasat and others.
La Compagnie will switch from the existing Boeing 757-200s, to its own pair of Airbus A321neo aircraft, which are due for delivery in April 2019.
They will be used on its Paris to New York route.
These will be configured with 76 seats per plane in an all-business class configuration, based on the B/E Aerospace (Rockwell Collins) Diamond Seat, configured in a 2-2 configuration.
The proposed cabin – Image, Airbus, Seats B/E Aerospace/Rockwell Collins, IFE – Zodiac Rave
The planes will feature Zodaic Aerospace’s RAVE IFE system for screens and in-flight entertainment.
In terms of connectivity, they will use Viasat’s Via2 network to provide air to satellite internet connectivity – which will provide a high speed connectivity (and if you’ve seen my review of the Viasat platform on American Airlines – you’ll know it’s fast).
On the WiFi, Jean Charles Périno, executive vice president of Sales and Marketing for La Compagnine states:
“We are excited to offer unlimited high-speed Wi-Fi to all the passengers onboard our new aircraft,” said e. “Viasat’s in-flight connectivity has unmatched speed, quality and affordability so everyone onboard can experience the internet just like they do in their home or office. Business-class democratization is in our DNA.
This is a perfect match with Viasat’s solution: we will be offering this unlimited Wi-Fi access at a fraction of the cost of competitive solutions, following our low-fare approach. We are proud, as a small airline, to have the best in the market to offer to our passengers.”
Don Buchman, vice president and general manager, Commercial Aviation at Viasat also stated:
“La Compagnie is reinventing the business-class experience, giving passengers uncompromised service quality and high-end perks, which include having Viasat’s best-in-class Wi-Fi service on board,”
“Given La Compagnie’s primary flight routes over the Atlantic, they will use our latest satellite system, ViaSat-2, giving passengers an optimal connectivity experience—with industry-best speeds, performance and reliability—gate-to-gate.”
An interesting move, with some rather superior products being loaded on-board it.
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